WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Knock on Wood

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, there's Chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>Jerry's here again sitting in for Dave and this is

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<v Speaker 1>short stuff. Come in.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh no, I was just wishing myself good luck.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh well that should sound like this.

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<v Speaker 2>We're talking about knocking on wood, and it's actually not

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<v Speaker 2>for good luck. Knocking on wood is more to avoid

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<v Speaker 2>tempting fate.

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<v Speaker 1>It depends on who you're talking to. Are you an

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<v Speaker 1>ancient celt or a modern day Chuck.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm a modern day Kilt.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh god, no, no, no, I'm an ancient Chuck.

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<v Speaker 2>That's what I am.

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<v Speaker 1>My brain's busted. Now you're gonna have to take over

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of this episode, now, all right, So yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you're right. These days we knock on wood to ward

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<v Speaker 1>off bad luck. Usually it's when we're saying something like

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<v Speaker 1>a boast, or we're saying something that we don't want

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<v Speaker 1>the opposite to happen.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks, you're going so great for this podcast. Nothing will

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<v Speaker 2>ever stop it from being successful.

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<v Speaker 1>Knock on wood. That's another thing you have to do too.

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<v Speaker 1>You you're doing it too many times, by the way,

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<v Speaker 1>you might actually be undoing the charm. I also say

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<v Speaker 1>knock on wood when I knock on wood, I guess

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<v Speaker 1>just to double up.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Emily always says she's very a big wood knocker,

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<v Speaker 2>so she's always like, you better find some wood to knock.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you can't. You can't mess around with like plastic

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<v Speaker 1>or metal.

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<v Speaker 2>It has to be fake wood even.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. So the the there's been all like this is

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<v Speaker 1>just a whole episode on Weird Little Luck Rituals. We

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<v Speaker 1>talked about throwing salt over your shoulder before, and I

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<v Speaker 1>think we've talked about knocking on wood at some point before,

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<v Speaker 1>because it seems familiar that it can be traced back

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<v Speaker 1>to the ancient Celts and essentially based on their belief

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<v Speaker 1>that trees, particularly oak trees, harbored spirits and that if

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<v Speaker 1>you came in contact with the tree, you were coming

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<v Speaker 1>in contact essentially with the spirits.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and trees were a big deal. And you know,

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<v Speaker 2>if you've built your house out of a tree, you

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<v Speaker 2>may knock on that wood is sort of saying like, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>I believe if you'd knocked once it was like hey,

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<v Speaker 2>thanks for the good luck, and a second knock was

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<v Speaker 2>saying like thank you, I guess for your wood. All

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<v Speaker 2>of these things are action based, though, and there's something

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<v Speaker 2>around that, like most of these good luck things, like

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<v Speaker 2>you can't and it's not like good luck is even

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<v Speaker 2>a real thing anyway, but in order to feel like

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<v Speaker 2>you're achieving that desired outcome of luck, you can't just

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<v Speaker 2>think it with kind of any of these things that

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<v Speaker 2>we're going to be talking about. And they've even done

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<v Speaker 2>research that was a study not a great one, but

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<v Speaker 2>a study from the University of Chicago in twenty thirteen

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<v Speaker 2>where they would have someone say something that like tempted

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<v Speaker 2>fate like our podcast will never you know, go down

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<v Speaker 2>the tubes or whatever, and then you could either knock wood,

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<v Speaker 2>throw a ball of course, which is not part of

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<v Speaker 2>any ritual that we that I know of, or just

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<v Speaker 2>hold on to a ball. And they found that the

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<v Speaker 2>people who felt like, all right, I think this worked

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<v Speaker 2>is the ones who actually did something, whether even if

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<v Speaker 2>it was throwing the ball, because it was an action.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they went to some effort to secure their good

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<v Speaker 1>luck or stave off the bad luck.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. So apparently that again people trace this back to

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<v Speaker 1>the ancient Celts and their love of oak trees and

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<v Speaker 1>their belief that the spirits are in the oak trees,

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<v Speaker 1>so I think Also one of the things I saw

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<v Speaker 1>is that when you knock, you're essentially waking them up, like,

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<v Speaker 1>wake up, spirits, I need your help to secure this

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<v Speaker 1>good luck. Pretty interesting. And then other people are like, no,

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<v Speaker 1>you're knocking to basically to make a sound over your talking,

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<v Speaker 1>so the bad spirits can't hear you. That makes a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of sense too, But also, isn't it a little

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<v Speaker 1>too neat? Isn't it a little too tidy? Doesn't it

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<v Speaker 1>seem like there would be a much more recent, much

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<v Speaker 1>less Celtic pagany explanation than that.

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<v Speaker 2>Well there may be in the Brits, say touchwood instead

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<v Speaker 2>of knockwood, and apparently that was a game when was

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<v Speaker 2>this like the night in the nineteenth century, so much

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<v Speaker 2>more recent called tig touch wood. I've also seen tiggy

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<v Speaker 2>touch wood where it's basically tag where different trees are

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<v Speaker 2>assigned as bases, and if you were touching wood then

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<v Speaker 2>you were safe from being tagged it.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. A folklorist named Steve Rowd traced it back to

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<v Speaker 1>an eighteen ninety one book called The Boy's Modern Playmate.

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<v Speaker 1>That's fun sure, So yeah, he thinks that this is

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<v Speaker 1>actually where this idea of touching wood and being safe

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<v Speaker 1>and then eventually evolving into knocking wood for good luck

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<v Speaker 1>came from that. It's as recent as one hundred or

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<v Speaker 1>so years ago.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think if you're in their variations, if you're

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<v Speaker 2>in Turkey, you do the knock wood twice, but you

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<v Speaker 2>also pull on your ear lobe one time.

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<v Speaker 1>I like that one. I'm going to start doing that.

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<v Speaker 2>And I thing in Italy they say touch iron, and

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<v Speaker 2>people say why, I have no comeback for that, trying

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<v Speaker 2>to think of something Italian.

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<v Speaker 1>There's nothing to say other than because there's no good answer.

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<v Speaker 1>They're supposed to be touching what they just have it wrong. Essentially,

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<v Speaker 1>Sorry Italy, I say we take a break and come

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<v Speaker 1>back and talk about some other lucky practices around the world.

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<v Speaker 1>How about that?

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<v Speaker 2>Sure? No, sevision, No.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, Chuck. Let's say that we're in Greece and I've

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<v Speaker 1>seen you across the street and I'm like, that guy

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<v Speaker 1>looks really good in those pants, so I'm jealous of them.

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<v Speaker 1>You might look over and see me go and like

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<v Speaker 1>kind of wave my hand at you, And what I've

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<v Speaker 1>just done is basically given you the evil eye of envy,

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<v Speaker 1>and so to erase that I've spat three times and

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<v Speaker 1>waved off my envy.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, what culture is at grease?

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<v Speaker 1>Grease? But spitting it's also big in Jewish culture too, too,

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<v Speaker 1>is I think three times usually is the way you

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<v Speaker 1>do it for good luck or to ward off bad

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<v Speaker 1>luck more more usually.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I've also seen spitting over your shoulder, which that's hard.

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<v Speaker 2>That is hard. I mean you can sort of spit, just.

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<v Speaker 1>Spit right on your shoulders. I do.

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<v Speaker 2>I got one Denmark. This is very interesting. They save

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<v Speaker 2>their broken dishes. I like sort of elaborate ones like these.

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<v Speaker 2>So if you break a dish in Denmark, you just

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<v Speaker 2>save it all year long and you collect it, I guess,

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<v Speaker 2>and your little broken dish bin, and you save it

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<v Speaker 2>till New Year's Eve. And they will they will chuck

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<v Speaker 2>their broken plates toward people that they want to have

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<v Speaker 2>good luck, toward their houses, like a friend or a

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<v Speaker 2>family or whatever, to wish them good luck. And I

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<v Speaker 2>think the children can even just leave a little pile

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<v Speaker 2>on their friend's doorstep if they want them to, like,

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<v Speaker 2>instead of throwing it, they can just say, like, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't even know how to do a Danish accent, but

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<v Speaker 2>here's a little pile of broken dishes.

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<v Speaker 1>Do it like bew York even though she's Icelandic. I

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<v Speaker 1>think it'll.

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<v Speaker 2>Cover Oh man, I wish I could do be York.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, I like that. I also like leaving it

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<v Speaker 1>as a pile, whether than throwing your broken dishes at

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<v Speaker 1>someone's house because somebody's got to clean that up. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>One of my favorites is crossing fingers. Like, not only

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<v Speaker 1>do I like to cross fingers myself, I like using

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<v Speaker 1>the emoji crossing fingers is huge with me.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>You would think that it probably dates back quite a ways,

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<v Speaker 1>and there's a story that it actually was originated by

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<v Speaker 1>the early Christians who were persecuted by the Romans at

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<v Speaker 1>the time, so they would cross fingers to basically signify

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<v Speaker 1>it at one another, to make a symbol of the cross,

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<v Speaker 1>almost like hey, I'm with you, buddy, I'm a Christian.

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<v Speaker 1>And I read I think in an Oxford explanatory article

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<v Speaker 1>on that that basically this is how they put it.

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<v Speaker 1>So they found that they can only date it back

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<v Speaker 1>to nineteen twelve and said given its late appearance, restricted

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<v Speaker 1>distribution most of the UK and colonies, and the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that crossed fingers bear no relation to the shape of

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<v Speaker 1>a cross. This explanation is completely unfounded.

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<v Speaker 2>My buddy Brett and I have always done we go

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<v Speaker 2>double hope hope, and we each cross both of our fingers.

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<v Speaker 2>I go and kiss each one, not each other's. Wow,

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<v Speaker 2>though we probably should.

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<v Speaker 1>That's got to work really well.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm not. I mean, I think we got that

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<v Speaker 2>from Why do I want to say we got that

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<v Speaker 2>from a movie like True Romance or something. I have

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<v Speaker 2>no idea.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't. It doesn't really always.

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<v Speaker 2>Done it, so I have no idea where it came from.

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<v Speaker 2>I know. In China, what they do is they believe

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<v Speaker 2>that your good luck comes through the front of the house. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>and so before Chinese New Year, which is not the

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<v Speaker 2>same as our New Year, they clean their houses. But

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<v Speaker 2>they don't sweep out the dirt or the quote unquote

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<v Speaker 2>bad They sweep it all in in a little pile

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<v Speaker 2>and they collect it because they have to put it

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<v Speaker 2>out the back door. You never want to if you

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<v Speaker 2>want to bring in good luck, you don't want to

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<v Speaker 2>sweep that stuff out of the front door.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and then you don't do any cleaning at all.

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<v Speaker 1>The first couple of days after Chinese New Year because

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<v Speaker 1>you're letting that good luck accumulate, you know. Yeah, I

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<v Speaker 1>actually adopted that one for our New Year Western New Year.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, yeah, nice out.

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<v Speaker 1>The bront door. I just don't clean for a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of days. I cleaned first, and I don't think I

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<v Speaker 1>was ticking out the back door, but the side door,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess counts. It's not the front door, all right.

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<v Speaker 1>But then after, like so New Year's Eve you can

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<v Speaker 1>do that, but on New Year's Day there's no cleaning

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<v Speaker 1>or anything like that.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, what about Thailand? This is interesting?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, why don't you take it? All right?

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<v Speaker 2>Little boys and men in Thailand think that if you

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<v Speaker 2>wear I'm not sure what's to pronounced palade kiek is

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<v Speaker 2>how I would say it, p l A p A

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<v Speaker 2>l A d k h i k, which is a

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<v Speaker 2>penis amulet. If you wear that in your pants, then

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<v Speaker 2>that's going to bring you luck. And this is just

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<v Speaker 2>a you know, it's a little If you look them up,

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<v Speaker 2>they look like very ornate of different design, but they're

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<v Speaker 2>all different versions of little car penises. They're usually pretty

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<v Speaker 2>small couple of inches, and they think that that will

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<v Speaker 2>bring you good luck and lessen like the severity of

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<v Speaker 2>an injury maybe, and I think just overall good luck.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, pretty great?

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<v Speaker 2>Huh sure, why not?

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<v Speaker 1>I don't have anything else? Do you have anything else?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, Chuck, I wish you the best of luck in

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<v Speaker 1>all of your endeavors.

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<v Speaker 2>Right back at you, I hold my penis amulet up

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<v Speaker 2>in your honor.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you same to you. That means, of course, short

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<v Speaker 1>stuff is that.

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<v Speaker 2>Stuff you should know is a production of iHeartRadio. For

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